Popular reviews

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★ 12

  Seems like a pretty interesting real story with troubling implications about misogyny, religion, and celebrity but this can't decide whether it wants to shape that story into a serial killer POV horror film or a socially-conscious procedural, and ultimately makes the mistake of trying to do both. At once too exploitative to make its righteous, humane critiques and too dull to be good exploitation.

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  Review by Afra Nariman ★★★★½ 30

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  I had the opportunity to watch this for the second time in theaters; this time a Q&A with director Ali Abbasi and the film’s lead, Zar Amir Ebrahimi followed the screening, in which they spoke about the difficulty in shooting, casting and getting this film finally made, considering the obstacles they faced along the way. 

  For a more comprehensive review of Holy Spider, please refer to/read my first review of the film, here. 

  ‼️SPOILERS BELOW‼️

  This time around, I’d like to just provide a focused analysis of the film’s ending — specifically, the scene of the execution. The first thing to note is that because this is based on a true story, it couldn’t have been done any other way.…

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  Review by Marein ★★ 23

  For a film that tries to expose misogynistic brutality, it surely feels ironic that most of the plot is centered around the male killer and that all violence is shown very vividly in every frame. Honestly I am just so tired of these sort of films trying to make a feminist statement and then falling into clear tropes that are the complete opposite of any sort of positive representation for women. Do we really need to have a generic revenge story and clear on-screen brutality to realise we have to respect women? That doesn't really click in my head and this just made me appreciate the off-screen violence of You Were Never Really Here so much more because Holy Spider just reinforces the idea men have to protect women.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★

  Ali Abbasi’s compellingly indignant “Holy Spider” is sure to be compared to any number of modern serial killer movies, but its true-crime subject — an Iranian construction worker who strangled at least 16 sex workers in Masshad as part of his misogynistic crusade to “cleanse the city of corruption” — wasn’t exactly in the same league as the Zodiac or the night-stalker from “Memories of Murder.” On the contrary, Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani, endowing his role with the everyman banality of a martyr in need of a cause) couldn’t have been much clumsier about the finer points of his mission.

  A married father of three who dumped all of his victims at the same place after suffocating many of them…

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★ 6

  Another movie I learned about due of the numerous discussions it sparked on this site. But Sin's compelling piece convinced me to take a look.

  And indeed, this is a very somber piece, a film grounded not in fiction but in a true and tragic reality that affects society's most marginalized members; in this case, sex workers in a country where, perhaps more than any other, they are seen as despicable beings who offend God to the point that someone who takes them out of the equation, out of the world forever, is pictured as a hero by an extremist sector. This is addressed early on in a really harrowing opening, and the ideas and commentary continue right up to…

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  Review by Matt Neglia ★★★½

  HOLY SPIDER sinks its claws in you and festers long after the credits have rolled. A bone-chilling critique of religious fundamentalism that became more terrifying & thought-provoking as it went on in unexpected & enraging ways. Aided by an atmospheric soundscape & two captivating performances from Mehdi Bajestani & Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Ali Abbasi continues to impress.

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  Review by KevinWimar ★★★½ 1

  I hate people who justify their terrible actions in the name of religion. What a pathetic little coward.

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  Review by Stringer Bell ★★½ 37

  Oh boy. A solid film but also problematic on so many levels.
  Let's start with the positives.
  It is definitely tense, realistic and brutal. It's visceral and the subject matter is undoubtedly important, considering the atrocities women are facing not only in Iran but all around the world daily at the hands of men.
  From a technical standpoint, it is shot in a gritty way and it is very effective at putting you right in the middle of the terror. The main character of Arezoo was very well written and explored. Her performance was solid, as were the rest of the performances in the film.
  The idea about the religious extremism and societal reaction to the killings is well worth…

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  Review by shookone ★★ 1

  grim, grimmer, the grimmest. reminds me a bit of The House that Jack built or The Golden Glove, just without any hints of comedic, cynical or bizarro twists and twitches. it does feel oddly horroresque while wanting the genre aspects being embedded in something bigger, a social panopticon. the austere crime depiction though gives you not much more than facts like in a true crime analysis, plus a very harrowing, dark unrest after the screening.

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  Review by nick ★★★½

  The systematic oppression of Iranian women couldn't have been a more relevant theme for now, and it takes an Iranian director like Ali Abbasi who fears no more to fully dissect the heinous reality with zero filters.

  Based on the story of real-life serial killer Saeed Hanaei, Holy Spider takes shots at the ugly belly of the Iranian "holy city" Mashhad, where prostitutes were being targeted and brutally murdered in the same of "cleansing the streets". Nudity, sex and gore are presented galore, although the plot itself doesn't offer too much substance to chew on other than a formulaic retelling.

  Most of the credit should be given to the ensemble, which consists of Cannes best actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi,…

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  Review by Frances Meh is decking them halls good ★★ 14

  There’s enough violence against women in real life, do we really need to constantly see it so graphically depicted on our screens? Are we not tired of seeing woman brutalized? When will we get tired of seeing women brutalized?

  
  
  

  
  ~ Toronto International Film Festival #11 ~ 

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  Review by Afra Nariman ★★★★½ 8

  Watched @ NBFF '22

  "No, I don’t trust the police."

  A raw and shocking new addition to Iranian cinema; Holy Spider is particularly unsettling and stressful to watch considering the current circumstances in Iran. The film is patient in scenes depicting violence, making such scenes truly difficult to keep your eyes on at times. If anything, the film perhaps leans into the spectacle of violence a bit too much; but overall I think that it is effective in what it sets out to accomplish. Holy Spider portrays evil by showing us how evil thinks and acts. Rather than the film unveiling a reality in Iran that audiences in the West are not aware of — due to the recent protests, the stories…